Growing Super: Chapter 15

The tip of his tongue stuck out as Jack carefully threaded wire into the sleeve of his shirt. It was the last bit he needed threaded before he could start hooking up the gadgets to it. The battery he’d chosen to use was a large series of almost paper thin batteries, also sewn into the shirt. A thin layer of mesh made from his special alloy spread through out the body of the shirt, hidden by the black cloth. Barely visible were the two wires sticking out from the bottom of the shirt, meant to be hooked up to the pants he was going to make. At the top of the shirt a multitude of connective wires poked out ever so slightly from the collar, ready to be attached to his helmet. Jack had chosen not to go with metal gloves this time for the sake of traction and movement restriction; instead, he was going to work with a pair of leather work gloves, which he was planning on modifying soon.

Now that he was trying to draw everything out, he found that his creations are a lot neater built, more compact and logical. The designs that came to mind seemed good as they were, but when he drew them out, flaws that could be easily fixed stood out. The way it worked reminded Jack of how things in a dream made sense, but when he awoke everything seemed crazy. Looking at his helmet, it seemed much too bulky for its main purpose. A pair of goggles would do better, or a partial mask. It It could be connected wirelessly to the rest of the suit and have its own power source.

The chair Jack was sitting in creaked as he leaned back in it, wiping his brow. The shirt he was working on was finally done and ready to be hooked up, but that was a job for another day. He put his tools away set aside all of the designs he made, leaving his “shirt” on the table and went upstairs. The sun was already low in the sky, courtesy of the fall season. Sliding a jacket on, he went outside and flew up into the air.

He spiraled upward until he was over the trees and he could see all the way to the heart of the city and then shot towards it, pushing himself as fast he could go. The wind battered his body but managed to stay away from his face, which puzzled him. Jack wrote it off as part of his power and thought that he should look into it when he got home.

He made it to the center of the city in under a minute and slowed down as he lowered himself to just above the street lights. Looking down past all of the shops lining the road, Jack could see the flashing lights of the billboards in the square up ahead. He gently flew upwards until he was almost at the same height as the billboards and drifted over to them. His eyes wandered the streets below, taking in the exoticness of the lights on the streets. It was strange, Jack thought, to be able to see things you normally see from above.

A muffled shout sounded from somewhere below him, just barely piercing the sound of the traffic. Jack immediately dropped through the air to find where it was coming from, flying above all of the alleyways in hopes of finding the source of the shout.

“I don’t have it!” A man sobbed, coming from one of the alleys on the left of Jack. Thump. The man screams in pain, and it echoes through the night.

Jack started to fly over to help the man out when a figure dressed in a black costume swoops down at him, surprising him so much that he almost fell.

“What are you doing?” The costumed man hissed at Jack. “You can’t go!”

“Why not?”

“Because they have weapons, you don’t look bulletproof, and you don’t have a mask!” The super turned towards the alley and speaks again. “Now if you’d excuse me, I have a crime to stop.”

The costumed man shot down towards the alley and Jack followed right behind him, stopping at the edge of a roof overlooking the alley. There was five men down in the brawl; two holding one by the arms, another giving out the blows, and one standing a bit back.

“Holy crap, this is right out of a movie!” Jack whispered to himself.

The super dropped down in between the attacker and the victim, taking down the hitter with a swift blow to the head. The two men holding up the victim dropped him and took on basic fighting stances, approaching the super slowly. He charged them and twisted right in between them, giving one a hard blow to the head and sweeping the legs out from the other. The last man had started running away, but didn’t get far before the super caught up to him. He was taken down quickly and dragged over to the rest of his friends, where he was tied up with them. Seeing that there wasn’t anyone left to hurt him, the victim ran off towards the main road, giving his savior a small thanks as he ran by him. The super took out a phone and talked on it for a second before flying up to where Jack was laying down.

“You should never, ever, rush into a fight without being prepared,” the super told him. “You’ll end up shot or dead if you do.”

Jack didn’t say anything; he just nodded his head in shame.

“But you were thinking like a true hero, kid, willing to put your life on the line for someone you don’t even know,” The man put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “And that’s something to be proud of.”

The super jumped into the night and flew away, leaving Jack behind him staring in awe.

3 comments on “Growing Super: Chapter 15”

Alright, another super hero. I like a populated planet. Just started reading your series this morning. Took a couple of hours to play catch up. I am really enjoying the world you created. Your main characters are charming and there is plenty of action. Keep up the good work.